M365

What Is Azure DevOps Really Solving? A Business-Centric Look at Agile Delivery

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What is Azure DevOps

Businesses are under constant pressure to deliver fast, reliable, and transparent software. This pressure will increase as technology continues to evolve and advance. Terms like DevOps, CI/CD, and agile delivery are often tossed around, but their true value is sometimes lost on business leaders and non-technical stakeholders. Many people don’t have a comprehensive understanding of what those terms mean and why they are important. In this blog, we will explore Azure DevOps from a business perspective. You will learn what problems it solves, why it matters beyond the IT department, and how it can positively impact your business. What Is Azure DevOps? First, it’s important to establish exactly what Azure … Read more

Post-Retreat Energy is Real. Here’s How to Make it Last.

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Post-retreat energy

This was my first Improving retreat. I’ll be honest: I was a little hesitant to go at first. But once I got there? I loved it, the networking, the friendships, and seeing what folks across offices are building. On the way out, I heard the same thing from others: a mix of “sad it’s over” and “I wish we could keep this energy alive.” It got me thinking about the ways in which we can preserve that post-retrest energy. That feeling actually has a name: collective effervescence, the rush we get when we move in sync with others around a shared purpose. It lifts our mood and gives us meaning. … Read more

Low-Code Web Portals with Microsoft Power Pages: Building Secure, Scalable Digital Experiences

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Low-Code Web Portals

As organizations embark on digital transformation journeys, the demand for secure, scalable, and user-friendly web experiences has never been higher. Microsoft Power Pages is a game-changing addition to the Power Platform that helps businesses build professional-grade websites with minimal code, maximum agility, and enterprise-grade security. In this blog, we will discuss how Power Pages is redefining web development for the modern enterprise and why you should consider using it as part of your digital strategy. Low-code web portals are changing the game. What Is Power Pages? Power Pages is a low-code platform that allows organizations to create external-facing websites, without the complexity of traditional web development. Often, when people think … Read more

Beyond Document Management: SharePoint as a Strategic Business Platform

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Strategic business platform

SharePoint’s Evolution SharePoint was once primarily known as a document management system (think digital filing cabinet). There is a chance that you still think about it in this way. Microsoft SharePoint has evolved into a strategic business platform that helps with collaboration, communication, and digital transformation across organizations. SharePoint has become a hub for encouraging productivity. Building a SharePoint page is surprisingly simple. Whether you have a background or experience in tech, it really has no impact on your ability to build out an effective SharePoint pages (or pages) for your organization. SharePoint as a Digital Workplace Foundation Modern SharePoint sites serve as intelligent intranets, connecting employees to the tools, … Read more

What Is an API, and Why Should You Care?

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If you’ve ever used an app to check the weather, book a ride, or order food, you’ve interacted with an API. You just might not have realized. But what exactly is an API, and why does it matter to your business? What Is an API? API stands for Application Programming Interface. You can think of it as a digital menu that lets one software system talk to another. Imagine you’re at a restaurant. You don’t walk into the kitchen to make your food, that would be weird. You use a menu to select the food you want and then place your order with the server. The server takes that request … Read more

What Legacy Systems Can Teach Us About Resilience and Risk

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Legacy Systems

Legacy systems often get a bad rap because of how rapidly tech is shifting. They’re labeled as outdated, clunky, and risky (for good reason). But what if we paused for a moment and looked at them differently. What if we viewed them not as relics to be replaced, but as lessons in resilience? Don’t get me wrong, legacy systems need to be updated. This blog is not going to deter you from updating them, but rather it will encourage a shift in how we think about them. You always want to put care and consideration in how and why you are going to upgrade. My goal in writing this blog is … Read more

Migrating to SharePoint Without Going Crazy: A Step-By-Step Guide

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Migrating to SharePoint

Imagine you’ve just bought your dream home. You’re excited about the move. You’ve been planning all the ways in which you’re going to decorate it. You’re picking out furniture and paint colours. But also think about all the packing you have to do. You have way more stuff than you thought and your move date is fast approaching. It’s exciting, but it’s also chaotic. Migrating to SharePoint can feel like this. That’s why appropriate planning is essential. Switching from a different platform? Planning is essential. Upgrading from an older version? Planning is essential. No matter what the purpose for a migration, you need to have a plan in place. This … Read more

Why Developer Experience Matters in Enterprise Tools

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Developer Experience

Why Developer Experience Matters in Enterprise Tools With enterprise software, internal tools often get the short end of the stick. While customer-facing applications receive the majority of design attention, internal tools that are used daily by developers, analysts, and operations teams, don’t get the attention they deserve. Developer experience (DX) is just as important as user experience (UX), especially when it comes to productivity, morale, and long-term business outcomes. The Hidden Cost of Poor Interfaces Enterprise tools are the backbone of internal operations. Developers rely on these systems to build, test, and ship products. Yet many of these tools are clunky, unintuitive, and frustrating to use. Poorly designed interfaces lead … Read more

How We Stay Curious: Learning and Growing as a Team

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How We Stay Curious

Growth is the hallmark of good business. Staying on top of industry trends, learning new skills, and understanding shifts in the market help deliver better products and services to clients. This blog will detail how we stay curious and what we do to make sure we are always learning and growing as a team. Gaining new skills and experiences has always been important to the Improving Winnipeg team. It was that way when we were Imaginet and it continues to be an essential part of how we operate as Improving Winnipeg. Remote Work and Staying Curious Is there a way to learn and grow as a team when most of … Read more

Empathy in Tech and Business: A Hidden Superpower

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Empathy in Tech and Business

With the amount of innovation and rapid change, empathy might seem like it’s nice to have in a business, but not essential. A soft skill, if you will. At Improving, we believe the opposite: empathy is a superpower. Empathy in tech and business is the quiet force behind stronger teams, better products, and more meaningful relationships with our clients and communities. What Is Empathy and What Does it Mean in a Business Context? Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In tech and business, it means listening deeply to clients’ needs, as opposed to just their requirements. Empathy also lends a hand in creating inclusive environments … Read more